What calculator do you use ?

[BlueBill]

WP-34S ! I want one.

Me too. Seems it's also a free App!

[PA0PBZ]

WP-34S ! I want one.

Here you go: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/wp34s/wp34s_V3.zip

[BlueBill]

I wish HP would retool the old HP-29C or 41CX.

[HighVoltage]

I wish HP would retool the old HP-29C or 41CX.

HP retooled the 15C and then only as a limited edition
Most likely they will not do it for other models, because there is not much money to be made with calculators anymore.

[RJFreeman]

I was using the EC130, but she is getting a bit cranky nowadays,
so my Sharp EL506P has proven slightly more sophisticated for the more complex stuff and oddly it still has the same battery as when I purchased it in 1984.....

[BlueBill]

I wish HP would retool the old HP-29C or 41CX.

HP retooled the 15C and then only as a limited edition
Most likely they will not do it for other models, because there is not much money to be made with calculators anymore.

So true. I never loved the LCD display on the 15C. I do love the alpha display on the 41CX or any old LED 7 segment display.

Of course I now use my iPad as a big calculator, I've got an old TI-59, HP29C and 41CX and I love the keyboards but don't use them much.

[Ecklar]

I use HP41CX both physically and emulated on the Smart phone.  Also use HP12C again the real thing and emulated.  The emulations are great in that I can have my fav calculators with me no matter what the circumstances. 

[BlueBill]

I use HP41CX both physically and emulated on the Smart phone.  Also use HP12C again the real thing and emulated.  The emulations are great in that I can have my fav calculators with me no matter what the circumstances.

Problem with the emulations are you don't get that wonderful HP beveled keypad. 

I also use Smart BASIC on my iPad to test out simple routines quickly.

[MiataMuc]

That's what I use at work 

well, it does what it is build to do, and I like it a lot.

Yes, I'm an accountant, and yes, I use Excel too 

[teddy529]

TI 89.... Sadly most my calculations needed can be done by Chrome.

[john_p_wi]

HP 28-S, used it nearly every day since my college days in the 80's...  Can't use a "normal" calculator any more.

[jhufford]

Only a few years late, but still...

calculator apps fall short, touch screen is rubbish, give me actual buttons for doing quick calculations at the bench. My opinion is graphing calcs are dead. If I'm needing graphing, give me scilab or [insert favorite math package here].

TI-83 plus was a decent easy to use calculator (well, back when I was in highschool, I'd say it's suitable for highschool students, but probably not college), then I got an hp 49g+ in college, and let me tell ya, that thing was the pimp-slappin', feather-in-the-hat wearin', boss of the graphing calc game. Algebraic or RPN, at least twice as fast as the TI-89 or 92 (maybe 3 or 4 times faster). The real gem was the beautifully easy way to switch between rectangular and polar. I was able to breeze through the arithmetic drudgery of calculating phasors in circuits class, much faster than my friends with their ti-83's. But alas, that got donated to the ether when I lost it at a coffee shop a few years back..

Great thread though, I'm looking for a nice, small rpn calc for quick basic calculations. Quick and easy is key, using the pc or smart phone is just too cumbersome. I have lots of suggestions from here now. Thanks everyone.

[rexxar]

I use a TI nspire. It's way overkill for what I need, but I got it for like $10 on ebay to replace my TI84 with broken keys.

[DBoulanger]

One of my first calculator was a Commodore.  I don't recall the model number but I do remember that it was possible to program it.  Nothing excessively fancy but for the early 70's, this was more than the regular and limited calculators available during these years.

Before college, we weren't allowed to use calculators at school, but sliding rules were accepted.  My dad was an engineer and he explained me how to use it.  Honestly, I was really good with that thing.  Today I'm looking at one and don't have the fuggiest idea how to use it.  It looks like some memory types are volatile, right ?

Early 80's I used my trusted TI-59 programmable calculator, with which you could store and recall programs and data using small magnetic cards.  I even bought the thermal printed on which the calculator was locked with a key.  What a nice toy that little thing was.  I used it for many many years.

In the early 2000's I got a TI-84 Plus.  Never really liked the display on it, but for the price I paid for it, it was more than OK.

The last one I bought, roughly 3 years ago, is a TI-Nspire CX CAS.  That little beast rocks.  Not lighting fast, but quite good for my needs.  If someone is knowledgeable enough with the LUA programming language, he/she can do really neat tricks.

Overall, the TI-84 Plus and the TI Nspire CX CAS are the two calculators I'm actually using for my daily needs.

[alsetalokin4017]

Sharp EL-520W

[gildasd]

Sharp EL-520W

It's 2 gen old version of the international Casio Fx82...
Think 20 year old tech...
The non educational version is now the 995:

That can be put in "linear mode" for those VPAM hatters

Edit:
Casio still sells in Japan the 20 year old version!
casio.jp/dentaku/product_list/products/?m_no=338

[MarkF]

I've had a HP-22S for many years.  It's NOT RPN.  I don't know if they ever made a newer version to replace it.

[HighVoltage]

I've had a HP-22S for many years.  It's NOT RPN.  I don't know if they ever made a newer version to replace it.

I am pretty sure there was only one version of the HP-22S
Here is a picture of the one I have with serial number: 3038S06339

This one and the HP-32SII are always on my engineering table.
For some calculations I prefer the RPN and for others I take the normal route with the 22S.

[VK3DRB]

My first scientific calculator, used in HSC (Form 6, or now called year 12) in 1976. It was cheap at the time - today's equivalent of about $800. Quite collectible these days and very, very rare. Also sold under "Abatron 808". Apparently it was developed in 1973, which I doubt.

The Farad was unique to Australia because it was badge engineered by Farad Trading Pty Ptd in Balaclava in Melbourne, Australia but was actually made in Hong Kong.

Four buttons have discoloured over the years, but others have not. I don't know why.

The calculator came with two 80mAh nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries at a time when rechargeable batteries were almost unheard of. Those batteries lasted up until 1998, a remarkable 22 years.

I still use this calculator! Although I prefer RealCalc on the Android phone for general use.

[ccs46]

I use a TI Voyage 200, for both my school work and my hobby as well.  Has a big display for the long equations, or playing Snake or Tetris in Geometry while the Sub yaks away. 

[McBryce]

Still using the same Sharp EL-512 that I got when I was in school (80's).

http://mycalcdb.free.fr/main.php?l=0&id=4330

McBryce.

[tomlut]

Another vote for the HP42s. I have a real one as well as an emulator on my phone and my PC.

It is fast (the later HP graphical calculators were dog slow), it has just the right level of automation and features for engineering calculations.

Free HP42s emulator: http://thomasokken.com/free42/

[VK3DRB]

I opened up my 1976 calculator to fix a dodgy keyboard contact.  I found this this chip: A Rockwell A4001PC.

I cannot find any data on it on the web. I would love to know what goes on inside, what algorithms it used. Rockwell is useless... they have no data on a chip they produced in 1975. One reason to keep old databooks.

If anyone has a datasheet on this chip from an old Rockwell book. I would very much appreciate it.

From what I can gather, it is designed to drive the low level VFD display, does all the normal and trigonometric functions and key board decoding and probably de-bouncing.

[SeanB]

Made by Rockwell for many different manufacturers, including Casio, Olympia and others who were after a basic calculator. As you say, basically does everything including keyboard ( using the digit drives as scan lines), display driving and contains a 4 bit 4004 core, some ROM ( IIRC 8k), around 128 bytes of register ( shared RAM, stack and register space) and a high voltage ( 40V process) NMOS design, to do the display driving. Only thing it needs are a external set of supplies, -20V for the display and substrate bias, and around 6V for the logic, all provided by the DC/DC converter spread on the left side of the board.

Sorry, not in any of my databooks, but you might look at calaculatormuseum for other models using the same chip and see if you get any joy, though they were a mask ROM with slightly different code for each model, though in most cases the only difference in models was the extra keys being installed in the unit to provide the functions. You might want to look up how HP did the original HP calculators, they used a chipset that was second sourced by Rockwell and later consolidated into the single chip used here. Similar methods used for the operations in all of them.

[VK3DRB]

Made by Rockwell for many different manufacturers...

Thanks! Very interesting info. I looked up the Intel 4004. The world's first microprocessor. Developed in 1971. This calculator was built in 1975, although the A4004PC was developed in 1973. A brilliant little chip with PROM on it, no external XTAL either. It appears the source code is non existent. It would be lovely to find that.

In those days, calculators had a wow factor. Even in uni we all had fun with our calculators. THey were like jewelry, to be admired. I preferred TI, rather than HP, but around 1977 some terrific calculators were born by these companies and they cost a mint.

These days no-one cares how a calculator works, especially the mobile phone gamer kiddies. No wow factor in it for them.

My calculator is 40 years old. The 2,300 transistors in the micro are still working strong. The capacitors are still OK.